FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HUMANE SOCIETY - PAGE 2

A year ago at this time, Michael Vick was facing questions about a shooting outside his 30th birthday party, his future in the NFL in doubt. On Tuesday, though, Vick went to Capitol Hill to endorse a proposal that would make it a crime to attend an animal fight or bring a child to such an event. Vick, who was released from prison in 2009 after serving 18 months for leading a dogfighting ring, appeared with leaders from the Humane Society of the United States to back the bill, now pending before Congress.

Harry Stotsenburg, a fourth-generation pork farmer, keeps about 500 pigs on his farm in Deptford. The industry has evolved significantly since his family began raising pigs. "They don't want you to use shocks. They don't want you to use whips. It's one thing after another," said Stotsenburg, 43. "It's hogs. It doesn't mean nothing to me. And that's how we're feeding people. " Because he buys pigs and raises them to be sold, Stotsenburg does not use gestation crates - narrow cages for pregnant sows that animal-rights groups denounce as inhumane.

Live chickens sharing cages with mummified remains of dead birds. Thousands of chickens dead of dehydration thanks to a water source malfunctioning. A carpet of dead flies so dark that workers in a poultry house needed headlamps to see. Those were some of the things the Humane Society of the United States says its undercover investigation found at a large Lancaster County farm that supplies eggs to ShopRite and other stores. The Humane Society said the conditions its investigator found and videotaped at Kreider Farms in Manheim evidenced the need for a federal law governing treatment of hens in commercial farms.

Now Michael Vick is even speaking out against virtual dogfighting. Dog Wars, a game created for the Android mobile platform, has met with objections from the Eagles quarterback and the Humane Society. "I've come to learn the hard way that dogfighting is a dead-end street," Vick said in a statement released Monday. "Now, I am on the right side of this issue, and I think it's important to send the smart message to kids, and not glorify this form of animal cruelty, even in an Android app. " Because Dog Wars has players condition dogs to fight, "this game may be a virtual training ground for would-be dogfighters.

The morning after convicted dogfighter Michael Vick played in his first regular season Eagles' game, the state Attorney General's Office and the Humane Society of the United States announced that they are partnering to offer $5,000 rewards for tips leading to the arrest and conviction of dogfighters. This year alone, more than 400 dogfighting complaints were received statewide, up from 245 in all of 2008, Attorney General Tom Corbett said yesterday. About 40,000 people are believed to be involved in dogfighting across the country, he said.

The New Jersey Senate plans to try Monday to override Gov. Christie's veto of a bill backed by animal-rights activists to ban the use of pig gestation crates by farmers. "I would be shocked if we're not successful," said Sen. Ray Lesniak (D., Union), the bill's sponsor, adding that "I hope and expect" enough senators will vote for the override. While an agenda for Monday's voting session has not been released, a spokesman for Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) confirmed that Sweeney had approved posting the bill for an override vote.

Someone apparently hung a South Jersey puppy on a sign to die, and authorities are hoping a $3,000 reward will help solve the case. On Friday, the Humane Society of the United States added $2,500 to $500 already posted by the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals "for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction" of the culprit. Four-month-old Lilly, a Pekingese, was found May 24 off a road in Sicklerville with her collar "intentionally entangled in the framework of a portable sign, causing strangulation," the Humane Society said in a statement.

A $5,000 REWARD is being offered to help authorities catch whoever intentionally set fire to a kitten found in Kensington last week. A woman recovered the 4- to 5-week-old male kitten last Thursday at Allegheny Avenue and F Street. Authorities said the kitten suffered burns over more than one-third of his body, with most of the burns on his head and back. The Humane Society of the United States announced the reward yesterday, citing the "depraved act of cruelty. " "This is the latest in a disturbing string of animals apparently being intentionally lit on fire," Sarah Speed, Pennsylvania state director for the Humane Society, said in a statement.

Michael Vick has a unique opportunity. It's an opportunity that does not involve running or throwing a football for the Eagles, although his abilities with each should only boost his influence. Vick has an opportunity to affect change for the species he once exploited: dogs. In urban areas, Vick's words and presence can help change the inner-city culture of dogfighting, and it might just be that Philadelphia, which has been targeted by the Humane Society as having a higher incidence of the crime, could benefit most.